$6.53 In Tha Bank

In the truest spirit of Wild Card Wednesday (a spirit which I conveniently invented and of which I am therefore qualified to judge the criteria), today I decided to go for something a bit different and well outside my comfort zone.

Specifically, I wanted to try to make a talk show in the style of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. To be esstremely clear: I find the views of these two men abhorrent. That said, they are unqualified masters of the talk radio medium, and their format is as simple as they come. They go into a radio studio with a list of topics to talk about and bark their opinions into the mic for three hours.

At this juncture I would like to assure you that today’s episode is not even close to three hours long, nor is it maniacally conservative in tone. Far from it, in fact, as I am, on my best day, a raggedy-lookin’ lefty type. But! I should also note that I am in awe of the eloquence and compelling verbal abilities of these two buffoons, and as such I have sought to emulate their format on today’s program.

If I was going to give myself a grade on this show, I would say it’s a C+. I am certainly not accustomed to loudly proclaiming my opinions on things without a script, and I don’t think I do it in a particularly artful fashion here. However, it was a very fascinating challenge to attempt to do so, and one I hope to revisit if today’s program does not prove so unlistenable that there is open revolt in the streets.

Lastly, as you can probably guess from the title, today’s show is about debt; my own as well as that of others. And yes, I do only have $6.53 in my bank account at present, for reasons that are described on the show. Did that stop me from buying MLB 12: The Show for the Playstation 3 at BestBuy.com just now? Shut your face, facetalker. The point is this: I really do think that we don’t talk frankly about debt enough, because we tend to be ashamed of it. On the show today I take a stab at figuring out where that guilt comes from, and why I think it may be misplaced. But I’d love to hear your debt stories and anxieties if you have them—I think we could all stand to learn a lot from one another, we debtors. If you’re interested in having your story told on the show, or just sharing some thoughts, send me a note at samdingmanshow@gmail.com. I will of course keep you anonymous if you’d prefer.